With the fixtures coming up, 3 points in that Friday match is mandatory for Ireland.

Agreed. Although a draw and 3 points against Austria isn't the worst either. I think they should be gunning for 6 points. 0-0 away to Sweden and were winning in Dublin 2-1 when Austria tied it up in injury time late on. Ireland are capable of winning both.

Big Richard Dunne back in the squad and healthy to manhandle Ibrahimovic!

Yes and it embodied everything that is wrong with English football. Making a statement that you intend to win a WC you don't even have the players for yet is foolish and places a lot of pressure on what are now just children or young players. It also doesn't mesh to have a really old, dinosaur manager in place with that aim. And to have youth team managers without a fresh and bright perspective. It's all a bit silly.

The first step for England should be to put out their best squad at every tournament, regardless of age or profile. I'd start there. Keeping their best U-23's out of the U-21 setup in Israel wasn't a good idea. It's easy to blame foreign influx for the problems English has at national team levels, but they didn't qualify for quite a few World Cups before that.

There's also some question as to what benefits the English national team more. Big clubs having their B team in lower divisions or Port Vale?

He made a complete fool of himself as well. By the time 2022 comes the core of our squad will be retired or past it. I dread to think who the replacements are. I think that if he's serious about making changes then the first thing that needs to be done is that squads should be made to field at least 3 U23's in each match. In the future I'd like to see a better reserve league and youth structure and a cap on the number of imports/foreign players because as much as he doesn't want to say it's a problem. It is.

They won't cap imports because that's what makes the FA and Premier League all their money. I doubt very strongly that people world wide are going to tune in to watch a league with that many English players in it, especially considering the state of English players and their development right now.

I don't think Group D is that weak, I would say Group G is weaker. Group E is pathetic.

Group E, especially because Norway is the seeded team in that group despite not qualifying for anything since 2000. Switzerland is an alright team but that's about it from that group.

Group G is weaker than Group D, that group is flattering Bosnia imo. BiH is a good team but they aren't darkhorses like some European media want you to believe. Beating Greece, Slovakia and Latvia doesn't make you a darkhorse....

They won't cap imports because that's what makes the FA and Premier League all their money. I doubt very strongly that people world wide are going to tune in to watch a league with that many English players in it, especially considering the state of English players and their development right now.

That's why I think it'd be best to put a rule on a number of English young players playing. I had a look at it on another forum out of interest;

Out of interest I looked at the players that each team could field if a U23 3 player rule was enforced tomorrow;

The problem in England is that the gap between the top teams n the rest is so significant that there's no glory to be won at clubs where those young players can ideally develop. The clubs that have shots at some glory are ones where it's very hard for more than the very brightest youths to break through.

Group E, especially because Norway is the seeded team in that group despite not qualifying for anything since 2000. Switzerland is an alright team but that's about it from that group.

Group G is weaker than Group D, that group is flattering Bosnia imo. BiH is a good team but they aren't darkhorses like some European media want you to believe. Beating Greece, Slovakia and Latvia doesn't make you a darkhorse....

I think hitzfeld has those Swiss kids playing more than alright. They're going to be a lot of fun at the WC and 2014 euros. They've got some very interesting youngins looking to join Xhaka, Rodriguez, Shaqiri, and their crafty vets, Inler, Stoker, Schweigler, Behrami, Dzemaili, Lichtsteiner, Klose, Benaglio, so they'll not just be very tough to beat but also very clever with the ball.

That's a very tough midfield with a pair of deadly wingers in front of a strong defense that has excellent fullbacks. Striker is a weak point but with Stoker, Xhaka and Shaqiri creating chances they should still score goals.

Group E, especially because Norway is the seeded team in that group despite not qualifying for anything since 2000. Switzerland is an alright team but that's about it from that group.

Group G is weaker than Group D, that group is flattering Bosnia imo. BiH is a good team but they aren't darkhorses like some European media want you to believe. Beating Greece, Slovakia and Latvia doesn't make you a darkhorse....

They aren't going to give any top team problems, but not too many teams can claim they destroyed Greece like they did. Should've been 5-0 or 6-0. Beating Greece is a huge accomplishment and a big win for anybody.

But the thing is still that defense. Take Spahic away, and I'd take the nobodies from Armenia or Latvia over what we have for our CB's.

I went with the first teams squad as presented by Wiki. Every team has players in their youth teams that could play but they're not good enough yet.

I doubt most of the players you listed are "good enough" if you consider the alternatives at their position. The only teams that have a decent trio of U23's in the first team are Arsenal and Man United.

The players I listed could all be promoted to the first team if PL teams had to meet a quota. They all played for Chelsea in preseason (except for Brown) and could hold their own. However they have to develop and rushing young talent can also ruin their careers.

If you are a top team in Europe, it's not easy to field young players in your country without jeopardizing your chances of success.

Let's take Barcelona, Real, Juve, Bayern and Dortmund for example. How many U23's in their first team from their respective countries start week in week out?

Barcelona: Tello? Sergi? They barely start games.
Real: Isco is the only realistic option who can start a game. Carvajal, Nacho, Rodriguez, Morata and Illarramendi are all depth players.
Juve: None that I can think of.
Bayern: Kroos, Müller and Götze. Others are depth.
Dortmund: Gündogan

So not that many. I do agree that it's ridiculous that sometimes an English PL team will field a whole starting 11 without and English player in it (Arsenal comes to mind a few years ago).

The most important thing to do is to develop at the grassroots level and improve academies. Then we can talk about enforcing stricter quotas on the homegrown rule.

Why do you think teams in France, Spain, Germany and Holland don't have problems finding young prospects? Because their academies are top class. Hell even Belgium's academies have managed to produce top talent.